The Goonies is a classic kid-centric adventure movie from the 1980s, and one of the film's best lines was completely ad-libbed. It's a classic cliche to argue that things aren't made like they used to be, usually to assert that things were better than they are now. That's often objectively false, but one area where the argument somewhat holds water is movies. While great movies are still made that are aimed at kids and enjoyable for adults too, things are different nowadays.
Anyone who actually re what it was like to be a kid will recall that, especially when adults weren't around, kids tend to get into all kinds of trouble. Most modern kids' movies tend to make their adventures G-rated, but back in the 1980s, films like The Goonies presented a picture of childhood a bit more relatable to actual children, minus the whole battling criminals while looking for treasure on a Pirates of the Caribbean-style pirate ship part.
That's not to say the PG-rated Goonies is the edgiest kids movie ever, but it's also far from a squeaky clean presentation. That's definitely true when it comes to various levels of profanity, although one of The Goonies' funniest lines ended up coming about due to an attempt to sidestep a swear word.
When the titular gang is traversing through a cave, rocks begin falling from the ceiling. Data, the resident gadget-maker of the group, yells out a deserved "Holy s***!" Except he doesn't say the second word, he instead spells it out, saying "Holy s-*-*-*!" It's a hilarious touch but was entirely the invention of young actor Jonathan Ke Quan, who now publicly goes by his given name Ke Huy Quan. Quan ad-libbed the line, and it completely fits his character.
Fitting his character isn't why Quan - who first gained fame not long before Goonies as sidekick Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - made that choice though. Adorably, Quan had promised his mother that he wouldn't swear in the movie, so he compromised by spelling out the offending word. While it obviously wasn't her intention, Quan's mother inadvertently caused one of the best lines in the movie to be added, one that Goonies fans have been laughing at for decades, and new viewers will laugh at for decades to come. However, there's still no word on if Mrs. Quan approved of that compromise.
